Lunenburg Part 1 - Introduction and Background August 30.pdf

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Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TABLE OF REPORTS TABLE OF CONTENTS III VIII IX INTRODUCTION 1 REPORT STRUCTURE 2 RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES 4 METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH 5 BACKGROUND - CLIMATE CHANGE, ADAPTATION AND THE LUNENBURG STUDY AREA CONTEXT 7 COASTAL CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS IN NOVA SCOTIA 7 ADAPTABILITY AND ADAPTATION 9 CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION PLANNING 10 THE LUNENBURG STUDY AREA 11 LOCATION 11 SETTLEMENT AND LAND USE PATTERNS 11 SOCIETY AND ECONOMY 14 ENVIRONMENT 15 CONCLUSION ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. REFERENCES 17 ix
Introduction The Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, located in Lunenburg County along the ‘South Shore’ of Nova Scotia, Canada (Figure 1), is one of 13 municipalities in Nova Scotia that participated in the Atlantic Climate Adaptation Solutions (ACAS) initiative. ACAS comprises government and non-government partners working collaboratively to help Atlantic Canadian communities build adaptive capacity to meet the challenges of climate change. Researchers in the School of Planning, Dalhousie University conducted a series of projects under ACAS to assist the District of Lunenburg in building its adaptive capacity. This report is a compilation of these projects. The researchers examined the vulnerability of the natural and built environment of the District of Lunenburg coastal zone to future sea level rise and storm surge flooding and identified the consequences of inundation and flooding for physical infrastructure and valued social assets, the implications for vulnerable populations, and the capacity of the municipal government to address the anticipated impacts and plan proactively to avoid the negative consequences of future impacts. The results of the work are: a substantial data base that demonstrates physical infrastructure and valued social assets at risk in the years 2025 and 2100; an understanding of how the public and community decision-makers value assets the same, or differently, with implications for decisions around adaptation measures and priorities in the future; identification of the distribution of vulnerable populations in the community and the relationship between this distribution and that of sea level rise inundation and storm surge flooding; and an assessment of the existing capacity of the Municipality to adapt to climate change through planning policy and legislation, planning practice, and intra- and inter-governmental and other linkages. The information and findings of the studies are immediately useful to the Municipality as it develops its Municipal Climate Change Action Plan and builds adaptive capacity through land use and development policies and practices, prioritizes actions to address infrastructure and assets at risk, or supports populations who are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The studies also serve as an example for other municipalities of the information needs and methods to identify hazards, risks and vulnerabilities, particularly as they relate to coastal climate change impacts. Other adaptation researchers and practitioners may wish to test the methods employed in these projects. Overall, the findings of the projects contribute to the growing body of information and knowledge about climate change impacts in coastal communities, including the significance of the impacts for natural and built environment assets, the potential implications for vulnerable populations, and the capacity of local government to protect its citizens and valued assets and manage future land use and development in anticipation of a retreating coastline and more extensive coastal flooding. 1
Page 1 and 2: Atlantic Climate Adaptation Solutio
Page 3 and 4: Report: This report was commissione
Page 5 and 6: Executive Summary The Municipality
Page 7 and 8: The assessment of social vulnerabil
Page 9: Table of Reports Part 1 Introductio
Page 13 and 14: scenarios for the years 2025 and 21
Page 15 and 16: identify actual and opportunities f
Page 17 and 18: a questionnaire-based survey of res
Page 19 and 20: Adaptability and Adaptation Adaptat
Page 21 and 22: communities also become apparent. S
Page 23 and 24: Closer to the coast, on the western
Page 25 and 26: The 2006 median household income in
Page 27 and 28: References Atlantic Climate Adaptat

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